The Dragon Prince
by Gone38
Summary: Deli, a young servant girl, becomes stuck in the middle of a game of magic, romance, and politics when she is stolen away from her home on the request of a very unusual Prince. Victor, a prince on the verge of becoming king, begins to struggle with himself, his duty and his kingdom after blindly choosing a bride. Retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't unexpected. The princess, as retched as she was, still held the title of the most eligible young woman in the land. With her eldest sister the heir to the throne, and her youngest brother studying to be a scribe the middle princess was the only one lacking future prospects. So when the king and queen announced the fact that they would be entertaining several young male royals over the next six months no one was surprised… except for the princess herself.

"What are they even thinking Deli?!" The servant girl seemed to spend almost all her energy holding back eye rolls and sighs while in the presence of the princess. She debated wasting breath trying to correct her name but knew it would not help anyone. "I've seen the list, they are not even inviting Alexander or Everett."

The king and queen's list, as if convincing anyone to marry their daughter wasn't enough of a project on its own, they insisted on only looking at men who would inherit their kingdoms. Second sons seemed a worthless pursuit in their eyes.

"Lady Annora, maybe the Kings will be nicer than you think." She hated how her voice sounded, weak and helpless. She may have been a servant but she wasn't stupid. That didn't change how utterly terrified actually speaking up made her.

The princess shot her a dead eyed stare and she immediately dropped back to the task of sewing a dress. Annora came to her to complain, but if she was quiet enough she knew she would storm off and bother someone else. She could survive the constant stream of 'Deli no one understands me', she may even be free of the princess before she knew it. She snapped up as a door slammed shut and the princess made her way to another part of the castle far away from the crowded workshop of the castle seamstress.

Surrounded only by the rich fabrics and the sound of silence, Deli felt her mind begin to wander to the image of a charmed life. She wasn't pitiful enough to spend her days thinking of being taken away by a dashing suitor and living in a large home. Just a small village, one with a marketplace bustling with life and activity. Meeting a young blacksmith, living on the edge of the village. Wishing for adventure or true love was a hopeless endeavor for an assistant seamstress, one that would only lead to disappointment.

She thought over the list of suitors that disgusted Princess Annora so. Gabriel, the oldest and most likely wisest on the list would be a king husband, Henry honest and harsh might humble the Princess if nothing else, Peter wouldn't be able to handle her, John, Erik, Tyler, Quinn, Adam, the list continued on and on with each being given a quick mental evaluation until she reached the last name.

Victor

It wasn't an entirely special name, nothing about it screamed notoriety, but it actually raised more questions than any name on the list. Prince Victor, no King Victor? Where did he rule, how old was he? Was he kind or cruel, rich or poor, strong or weak? She had worked in the castle her entire life, she'd learned from the same books as the royal children, she'd served dinner to every royal family that visited but not once in her life could she ever recall meeting a Victor.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she went back to sewing, trying over and over to solve the gap in her memory.

Hey Guys,

Just a quick thanks for reading, and a begging plea for reviews. It's probably a mess but I really wanted to get something out there from this story, I'll try to update at least once a week, so it be awesome to know how I'm doing, if chapters should be longer or shorter etc. etc.

Thanks again!


	2. Chapter 2

Duty, it was a biting word, one he had never heard used without some sort of intention behind it. Every time someone spoke of his duty he'd be reminded of everything that had brought him to where he was now. Duty was the reason he was raised the way he was. If everyone did their 'duty' he wouldn't be expected to even think about marrying some random girl.

He stared coldly into his reflection, continuously messing with his suit, as if a fancy outfit would make him any more marketable, as if would convince a king and queen to marry off their daughter.

"You're over thinking it." His father's voice rang through the room like an alarm. "Your outfit looks fine."

The comment was meant lightheartedly but he caught the edge in his father's voice. The unsaid critique. When the invitation arrived, his mother was overjoyed, she nearly kissed the poor messenger. It never failed to shock him how optimistic his mother was. When pressed for details, the messenger let the last bit of information slip. He was the last on a long list of possible suitors. He had no doubt that he would be receiving another message any time that apologized and invited the royal family to the wedding instead.

Instead he was now biding as much time as possible hoping that some idiotic prince did in fact fall in love with the princess and he wouldn't have to trek across the land for a swift rejection. Could the princess's standards be so high that she actually denied almost every king to be in the land? The idea was preposterous, the messenger had waxed on about her beauty and grace, but even the most beautiful girl in the land wouldn't be dull enough to reject some of the most powerful men to ever grace her presence.

When the time finally came that his father forced him into the carriage he held his head high. He tried to avoid his mother's eye, couldn't bear to see such optimism light them when he knew he would come back empty handed. The road would be long and that was not the image he wished to think about for a journey that would last him longer than a day.

As the carriage rocked him to sleep he wasn't sure if it was the idea of rejection and disappointment that scared him more or the small possibility that he wouldn't be making the return journey alone.

Twelve suitors, she had somehow caused the quick exit of twelve suitors. The idea was mind boggling to Deli, the idea of even getting one suitor flattered her, that someone could go through twelve in a month's time made her head spin. Her parents were at their wits end, they prayed for the last to be lucky thirteen. Deli had her doubts though. After her initial curiosity was peaked, she had made it her mission to gather all information surrounding the mystery prince, and boy was he a mystery. He never attended any social gatherings, he only spoke to a small part of his very large staff, she wasn't even sure he was human based on the some of the things she had heard. When she asked the oldest member of the staff she was given a shriek.

"MONSTER, he's a monster I tell you." The grey haired cook looked like she had had a heart attack just after hearing his name. Deli internally laughed at the idea of the princess marrying someone as rotten as she was but quickly composed herself.

"He's that bad? He doesn't… harm his servants does he?" Deli's voice became quiet as she immediately felt terrible for not realizing just how horrid this man could be.

"He has too! His visage is too cruel to even recall, good natured humans don't carry the features of a demon!" The features of a demon? Deli thought back on every bit of information she had. The only conclusion she could draw was that no one seemed to even have an idea what the prince looked like. The theories ranged from the fact he was a Bastard and didn't look a bit like the king, that he was burned in an accident at a young age, he was dreadfully shy, he was too beautiful for words; he was a monster, a beast, a beauty and a creep.

The mystery occupied her every waking moment since the last prince left. The princess had been rejected or had rejected everyone except for this walking enigma. He was scheduled to arrive any day now and seemed to have the whole kingdom on the edge of their seats. Deli wondered if the poor boy knew what he was actually walking into.

Rejection after rejection had caused the princess to be more volatile than ever, and seemed to have claimed Deli as her prisoner for the duration. If she wasn't thinking about unlucky suitor thirteen she was running back and forth for the screaming shrew that had become Annora. She had become an even worse brat over the last few weeks.

The chores and errands distracted her to the point where she completely missed the prince's entrance, and was soon bombarded with more gossip and whispered speech than she could have ever have foreseen.

"The princess refuses to even look him in the eye."

"Well would you? Eyes of a beast."

"His nails could give a dragon a run for its treasure."

"He's probably part dragon, with coloring like that."

It seemed that her obsession with finding out about the prince was a tame curiosity in comparison to the lengths the residents of the castle went to when dolling out information about him after his entrance. It seemed everyone had a story to tell about their personal glimpse of what they referred to as the dragon prince, everyone that is, except her. She somehow missed him an every turn.

The weather had taken an unfortunate turn that was keeping the poor royal trapped there, but it was clear from his first step in the castle, the princess would have nothing to do with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Victor found himself pacing the halls once again, he didn't know what was more annoying the princess's melodramatic rejection or the great lengths the king and queen went to in an attempt to change her opinion. It was very obvious that this once good idea had created more than one enemy and they seemed in desperate need for an ally.

She acted as if just breathing the same air as he did was already doing him a favor, her servants while obvious in their rejection of his being, at least had the decency to treat him as a human being.

He lived the scenario over and over in his head as if even if there was a way to make her accept him he would want have anything to do with her. It was during one of these moments that he ended up on the floor covered what he believed was some sort of powder.

"Ow, hey could you watch where you're…" the complaint died in his throat when he saw her. She wasn't a story book beauty, or even a member of the royal family, but she was new. After spending nearly two weeks in this castle he was sure he knew everyone. The kingdom wasn't particularly large, it was perhaps the tenth of the size of his own. Yet here in front of him stood a servant that he was positive he had never laid eyes on before.

Her hair seemed intent of falling out of whatever bun she had tried to contain it in, the shade somewhere between gold and brown. Her face seemed fixed in an expression on surprise, while her eyes seemed to be bouncing across the emotional spectrum. He wasn't quite sure how to react when the silence was finally broken by a small giggle. He wasn't sure why, but that quiet laugh made his entire world brighten, he lost control and felt himself crack a smile, snapping both of them back to reality.

"Your highness, I…I am very sorry I was… It was inexcusable, my actions I mean, and your covered in, and I didn't mean to." She continued to stumble over words for what felt like hours, but all he could focus on was bringing back that laugh. That laugh felt as important to his life as water, air or sleep. He pulled himself up and felt himself walk forward.

"Please, it was nothing, do not fret." He sounded so confident, but the end of that statement was the only thing he knew. After that he would have just dismissed the servant, he didn't know where to go, and in the end he watched as she scurried away taking his flippant response as a dismissal.

Covered in powder, and feeling emptier than he had just an hour ago, the prince made a promise in that moment that he would do anything to keep.

The king admired the prince, he may not have liked him but he certainly admired him. The boy was strong willed, and seemed to have the deck stacked against him, a true underdog. He may have looked the part of the villain but it was clean to the King that he had an aura of royalty and class about him that couldn't be faked. Yet that admiration didn't stop his skin from crawling any time he imagined marrying his daughter off to that beast.

That did not mean however that the idea was entirely unattractive. In no way was the king naïve enough to think a kingdom as small as his own could keep the peace it was currently enjoying. It wasn't hard to make enemies, making and keeping allies though was a challenge. Delft was strong, large, foreboding and with a man like the Dragon Prince in charge it was nearly an untouchable power. A power he needed to be able to count on.

In the end it wasn't even the king himself who had solved the problem. When he thought the idea of a match was hopeless and his daughter would cool any positive relations with another possible ally, the prince himself provided him with a solution.

"Any bride?" The request was insane, but such an easy fix. Of course there had to be more. The quick look on the prince's face squashed his hopes of just handing him some low level royal cousin desperate to be on the throne.

"No, of course not. I would like a choice in the matter, but I believe Barnard is a strong kingdom and it would be wise to create peaceful relations even if the original plan did not work exactly as intended." The king was not a stupid man, he could hear the forced diplomat in the boy's speech but desperation won out and he decided to just play along.

"Excellent my boy! We shall throw a party, one where you can meet every eligible lady in the kingdom!" He was afraid he was too into his act when he threw his arm around the boys shoulder and began describe the festival. The prince's eyes were an easy read though and he knew he had him exactly where he wanted, that is until he heard the boy speak.

"That won't be needed." Before his eyes the child whose eyes were alit with wonder just a minute ago fell back into the cold cage of a foreign leader negotiating terms. "I have already made my choice."

"Truly? Do tell." If this was to be a real discussion so be it. "Is the lady fair aware she has caught your eye?" He didn't know if it was the small twitch or the hardness of his voice that followed but the king was well aware he may have rattled the boy's cage too much.

"She, you must understand cannot know until the wedding." His voice was cold but there was a deep fear underneath the words.

"Just say the name, and I'll see it happen."

It wasn't until she was wrapped tightly in one that she realized how much she truly hated corsets. Of course she had never had to wear one up until this moment in her life, but that didn't make her appreciate them anymore. In her eyes she looked almost terrifying, and felt as if she would pop with the laces pulled that tight, and there were still layers upon layers to pile on.

When she imagined herself and a white gown, she was never actually wearing it. Yet here she was about to walk down an aisle to a man she had never met, in a kingdom over a week's journey from her own. When the housekeeper had barged into her room into the middle of the night to pack her things she was sure she would be out on the streets the next day. The end result was much different that she expected. Shipped off to the kingdom of Delft, traveling along with the Dragon Prince himself.

After their first encounter her obsession with him had all but disappeared. Yet he seemed to around every turn, the amount of times she almost smashed into him was too long a list to recall. It almost made her believe he wanted to have another run in with her. She found herself staring into those golden eyes more in reality than in her own daydreams. It struck her as odd that such a strange color seemed so normal on him. Nothing truly was normal about him though, he was much too tall, and much too lean. On anyone else him complexion would appear sickly but it truly wasn't too pale for him. He kept his hair shorter than any other royal male she had seen, it was almost a silver color that looked like a wolf's fur. And of course there were the eyes, those golden honey eyes that seemed be a little too expressive for their own good.

She spent her last two weeks at the castle practically hiding from those eyes, only to end up stuck on a cross country journey with him. Each day she tried to get answers, and each day she was left with only more questions. The prince's mind seemed lost to another place. It wasn't until halfway through the journey she noticed the prince's disappearance at night. She wished with all her heart she had had the courage to investigate but instead quietly sat by as the journey continued.

She had only been at her new place of residence for two hours before a mob of servants swept her up to prepare her for, of all things, a wedding. Her wedding to be exact.

The idea actually kind of made her sick, she felt shallow and empty but she wasn't going to lie to herself. There was a laundry list of reasons this joke of a wedding made her feel so disgusting, but in the end she knew some of the rumors had gotten to her. More than the terror of marrying someone she didn't know, or being shoved into a class that she spent her whole life serving she was terrified of him, her bridegroom.

Covered head to toe in white, in a gown more elegant than anything she'd ever seen before she felt like she wanted nothing more than to sleep forever. In a way the next few hours of her life felt like sleep, going through the motions without any extra force only to be woken up as the 'I Do' left her lips.

Thank you to everyone that has reviewed,favorited, and followed. Every time I get an update it brings a smile to my face. Anyway the story is about to start picking up and our main characters will actually realize what marriage holds for them soon, so stay tuned.

Gone


	4. Chapter 4

It's not like there would be a large party, he calmed his mind. His father grudgingly approved, well in public at least, behind the scenes the king was furious. His mother on the other hand was ecstatic. She nearly pounced on the girl when the wedding was over. He didn't know which part of the situation was more awkward, how much the girl seemed to be leaning away from him, or the fact he was about to introduce the now princess of a nation as Deli. If he didn't feel reckless and guilty enough the side glares being given by her stormy eyes would do the trick.

"Come now Victor, you'll have plenty of time to spend with her," His mother insisted, laying a hand on the girls arm. "Why don't you join me and some of the ladies for tea?" He didn't know what he expected, but her reaction wasn't it. "Your majesty, if it's alright I'd just like to be alone right now." As an afterthought she quickly added. "I'm dreadfully tired and wouldn't make good company."

His mother had the audacity to pout, but didn't embarrass either of them further. His father looked somewhat relieved. "Well what are you waiting for, show her to your quarters." Both of their faces revealed some form of horror, but by this age they both knew how to swallow orders and move on with life. Offering his arm, Deli carefully took it… only to shrug it off the second his parents were out of sight.

It stung a little, but at the same time he was aware how absolutely awkward the situation was. He went over in his head where to possibly start. _This is your home now, I'm dreadfully sorry I've roped us both into this, _or what was actually on his mind, _you look lovely in white. _

He was the future ruler of a nation, and he wasn't some pretty boy prince, he couldn't just charm his way into her heart. He slowed in front of the bedroom door.

"Your Majesty, I don't mean to interrupt your internal monologue." Her tone was strained, considering that was exactly what she intended to do. "But what exactly is the point of all this?" He suddenly saw a reflection of him at every grand ball, every party, and every time he had to speak another noble in her eyes.

"I tell you when I figure it out?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "I just, I don't know, I don't. I didn't know what to do and suddenly the solution was right in front of me." He chuckled darkly. "List if you hate me, that's fine, it's better than nothing. I'm really sorry, Deli."

"Adelaide." His head snapped up. "My name is Adelaide." She said it quietly. He felt speechless for a second.

"Adelaide." A chuckle escaped from his lips. "That's quite the improvement." He opened the door and gestured toward the bedroom. Giving him one last glance over, she nodded.

"I'll be seeing you at dinner then?" Her question didn't sound utterly miserable. "Yes, of course, dinner." He said backing from the door. It was nothing, less than nothing, but that didn't stop him from letting that spark of optimism burst in his chest.

Was it wrong that she didn't feel hatred toward him? She wasn't being taken away from her family, the closest thing she had to a friend was the prince who she hadn't seen in years, and the princess who was the farthest thing from a friend possible. Who was she kidding though? No matter how genuine he seemed, it had to be some sort of joke. Pretend to marry the servant girl. What future king in their right mind would marry a servant?

Then again, he was a strange one. A fanged smile, clawed hands, eyes of blood, hair of silver, he looked like a villain out of a fairy tale. Yet here he was softly saying her name, looking at her like a puppy. If she wasn't involved in it she would have laughed for days hearing this story.

Short and almost late, I'm doing terribly. Finals are coming up so this week is a bit of a miss, but then ill be on winter break with a ton of free time to write away. Keep reviewing, you guys are amazing!

Gone


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